Tuesday 26 February 2013

Myanmar, the land of the golden pagodas

Myanmar is a beautiful country of 55 million people, bordered by India, China and Thailand. It had a strict military government for years but is gradually moving toward a more open and free society.


 We arrived in Yangon, the international travel hub, and were met by an arranged driver and guide. We met lots of people backpacking and traveling on their own but unless you have unlimited time, it is best to have a local guide to help you know where to go and what to see. Because Myanmar is just opening up to outsiders, everything there is very reasonably priced so that having a guide is quite possible.

We spent the first two days visiting Yangon and some of the extraordinary pagodas which exist throughout Myanmar. The people are very devoted to Buddhism and the pagodas are invariably crowded with worshippers. They are always welcoming to strangers, a trait we found everywhere we went.

From Yangon we traveled to Pindaya, which is famous for its enormous caves in which more than 10,000 statues of Buddha in every size have been placed by locals and by people from all over the world.

From Pindaya we made the journey by car to Inle Lake, which is a must for anyone who visits Myanmar. It is a large lake — about 45 square miles — but quite shallow with the average depth being about 6 or 7 feet. The population lives both on its shores and in dwellings on the lake built on stilts. Much of the farming is done on floating islands anchored by long bamboo sticks as we learned when we saw an enormous field of tomatoes, all on trellises floating on a bed of weeds. Fishermen stand on one leg on the end of narrow flat dugout boats and fish with nets and traps while paddling and steering the boats with the other leg wrapped around the paddle.

There are several cottage industries on the lake, including colorful weaving, handmade paper, silk and silver makers. It was tough working conditions for everyone, but we were invariably greeted and made to feel welcome. There are excellent local restaurants built on stilts along canals in the floating village. These were among the most memorable, peaceful and romantic days of our trip.

From Inle Lake we made our way via Air Bagan (we took four internal flights, and despite a lack of computers and “normal” equipment to coordinate flights, every one was on time and perfectly fine) to Mandalay. The famous U Bein Bridge is there, a sight photographed at sunset by every visitor to Mandalay. Mandalay is the business and commercial hub of Myanmar, jammed with motorbikes, cars, trucks, buses and bicycles, all ridden by more people than one can imagine. But if it’s craftsmanship you are looking for, then Mandalay is for you: exquisite stone and wood carving, bronze casting and pottery making. Plus marvelous teak furniture — and all at prices that have to be seen to be believed.

From Mandalay we flew to Bagan, home to 2,200 Buddhist pagodas and monasteries. The highlight of our visit was a sunrise ride over Bagan’s landscape in a giant hot air balloon drifting over the many square miles of ancient temples and pagodas as the rising sun lit them with a reddish golden light.

The day we arrived in Bagan was coincidentally the day of a once a year festival for which villagers come from as much as 100 kilometers around. We were fortunate to be there then and were able to spend hours wandering among the people in the marketplace.

They came with ox drawn carts, trucks, buses and motor bikes — all bulging with people and their merchandise and left with all of their purchases the next day. Huge donations of food and money were made for monasteries far and wide with red cloth clothed monks drawing lottery tickets to see which monastery received which donations.

We also visited two orphanages, one a part of a monastery with children orphaned or whose families couldn’t afford to keep them. The other a very poor place for children mostly from tribes living on the Thai border. What you don’t see in Myanmar is begging. Children are cared for and people haven’t yet learned to expect money from strangers.

Myanmar is still relatively unspoiled. The best time to visit is between November and March. Happily for us, we used a travel agency with which we were familiar from past travels in S.E. Asia, www.haivenu-vietnam.com (if you call, ask for Hang).

They arranged everything for us in Myanmar and it all went off perfectly. Go and visit Myanmar. It is a wonderful country with lovely people.

• Visit Catherine Steinmann’s website at www.catherinesteinmann.com.

source: The Garden Island
http://thegardenisland.com/lifestyles/myanmar-the-land-of-the-golden-pagodas/article_d8851194-7e2b-11e2-8c9e-001a4bcf887a.html

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